Grandpa Montgomery's mother was Martha Gassaway. The first Gassaway in America was Nicholas, born in London Town on March 11, 1634, the son of Thomas Gassaway and his wife Anne Collingwood. They lived in St. Margaret's Westminster Parish. St. Margaret's Church stands adjacent to Westminster Abbey. Sometimes the name is spelled Gasawaie which has a Flemish or Dutch flavour.The Collingwood family was an old heraldic one as was the Gassaway family.
In 1649, Nicholas came to America with a Richard Owen who had a land grant from the King. Nicholas settled on South River in Anne Arundel County (Maryland) among the Puritans who had come from Virginia as Quakers.He became one of the early merchants of that area. In 1650, he applied for his land rights and over time accumulated over 1,000 acres of land. There is no record of his first wife, who became the mother of his two oldest children (Nicholas and Anne). After her death, he married Anne Besson in 1672. She was the daughter of Captain Thomas Besson and was only fourteen at the time of her marriage. Her father so loved Nicholas and was so pleased about the marriage that he gave them an additional 610 acres of land. Their children were John, Hester, Jane, Margaret, and Thomas.
Nicholas became one of the outstanding Marylanders of his day and one of the wealthiest. He was active in the militia and had a company of nineteen men. In a letter to Col. Burgess he wrote, "...we have noe orders but to Range and Defend the Plantations, the which we shall doe to the best of our skill." In 1687 he was commissioned a major.
In a letter dated 25 March 1689, Nicholas Gassoway, alson with several others signed a letter directed to Col. William Digges in which they expressed their concern of eminent danger to the Protestant citizens. They wrote: "...wee have heard this day That Maj Ninian Beale is either engaged with the Piscattoway Indians or every minute in expectation to put in operation their wicked and malicious designe...wee remaine in a posture of defence for the generall safety of all..." After the ensuing rebellion led by Capt. Coode, Col Nicholas Gassaway was appointed one of the Committee of Twenty who governed Maryland until the arrival of a royal governor from England. (It seems that there was trouble between Catholic and Protestant settlers. Does anything ever change???)
At his death, Nicholas left a large estate to his children that included twenty slaves, one servant, and more than 1320 acres of land. His request was that all but one of the slaves be freed. The one, a fellow who understood the work of the plantation, was to instruct the sons and after one year was to be freed. When I read that, I breathed a sigh of relief. Owning slaves did not sit well with me.
Thanks to Mary for her hours spent on the genealogy research. She has all the information about the family all the way to the present. I think we have an amazing family. On one side we have two lines that go back in this country to the 17th century--long before the Revolutionary War. And we also have newcomers who arrived in the 19th century. Sounds like a true American mix to me.You can still find out family names sprinkled throughout Maryland and the South. Seems we've left footprints along the way.
